Bridegroom performs backflip at wedding

Bridegroom Pip Andersen showed he was head over heels in love after getting
married – by performing a backflip outside the church.

Newly-wed groom Pip Anderson performs a backflip in his official wedding photo to Becky ButcherPhoto: SWNS

By Murray Wardrop

7:00AM BST 30 Jul 2009

The 18-year-old was posing for a photograph alongside his bride, Becky Butcher, when he was overcome with excitement and performed the backwards somersault.

The new Mrs Andersen, also 18, watched open-mouthed as her husband, a professional free runner, let go of her hand and executed the stunt wearing his morning suit in the entrance of St Mary Magdalene Church in Taunton, Somerset.

Mr Andersen said: "It was a fantastic and joyous day in every sense. Becky looked gorgeous and I was over the moon.

"So when we left the church, I couldn't hold my excitement in anymore – and did the flip for the cameras."

The childhood sweethearts were married on July 18, having met at Sunday school aged nine. They were joined for the ceremony by 200 guests before setting off on a romantic break.

The bride, an admin assistant, and groom, who has been practicing free running, the acrobatic sport, for several years, returned home to Taunton on Tuesday after a seven-day honeymoon in Scotland.

Free running, also known as parkour, involves performing acrobatic stunts like flips and jumps while running over obstacles such as park benches, street lights and walls.